The conclusion that the attack involved a human-wielded weapon is solid.

The specific form of that weapon — beyond the bone tip itself — remains uncertain.

What Remains Unresolved And Why That Is Not A Failure

The Manis site, after four decades of investigation and three waves of increasingly sophisticated scientific analysis, has answered some fundamental questions with considerable confidence.

A mastodon was killed or attacked in what is now Washington State approximately 13,800 to 13,900 calibrated years before the present.

A bone projectile point — made from mastodon cortical bone, shaped deliberately to a specific weapon-tip morphology — was embedded in the animal’s rib during that event.